Partners Thought Leadership Series Welcomes Jay Collins, President and CEO, Oceaneering September 19

HOUSTON, August 28, 2006—The Jones Partners invite the business community to participate in the first Thought Leadership Series of the 2006-2007 season. The topic will cover productivity improvement in today's business environment. T. Jay Collins, chief executive officer and president, Oceaneering International, Inc. and William B. Lee, associate dean for Executive Education and professor of management, will speak on Tuesday, September 19 at 6:00 p.m. in the Anderson Family Commons, Janice and Robert McNair Hall, Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University.

Given the importance of maintaining a steady flow of oil to world markets, it is vital for service companies to keep their customer up and running at all times. Particularly in the ocean environments-significant in their technical challenges and in requiring continual innovation-companies must grapple with operations that are international in scope while keeping a relentless focus on delivering customer value. These circumstances amplify the operational challenges associated with employee training, commitment to process improvement, effective worldwide communications, accurate business analysis, and speedy decision making that all businesses face. Success hinges on meeting these challenges. Oceaneering International, Inc. is a unique company that has built its reputation on successfully navigating these challenges in the most demanding of environments to serve its diverse client base. Jay Collins and Bill Lee will share their perspective on managing Productivity Improvement as a critical factor in business success.

T. Jay Collins, president, CEO, and director on the Board of Oceaneering International, Inc., an advanced applied technology company providing engineered services and hardware to customers operating in offshore, space, and other harsh environments. Mr. Collins joined Oceaneering in October 1993, initially serving as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Having held various senior level positions within the organization during this tenure in May 2006 he was appointed Chief Executive Officer adding to his service as president. Collins received his MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business in 1972 and both his Bachelor of Arts degree and a Masters of Engineering degree in Chemical Engineering from Rice University in 1969. Collins has continued his affiliation with Rice University through the Jones School, as a member of the Council of Overseers and as past president of the Jones Partners. Collins serves on the Board of Directors for National Ocean Industries Association, the American Productivity & Quality Center, and CanCare of Houston.

William B. Lee, associate dean for Executive Education and professor of the practice of management, Jones Graduate School, joined the Jones School in October 2002. In addition to being a faculty member and teaching in the MBA for Executives program, he has responsibility for all corporate non-degree executive education. Dr. Lee has been involved in academia, industry, and management consulting. His academic interests focus on operations management, primarily for supply chains in large global manufacturing firms. He was a tenured professor and spent 10 years on the faculty in the College of Business Administration at the University of Houston. In his various roles of senior management, he served in firms such as Oliver Wright Management Consulting and Deloitte & Touche working with the firms' largest and most significant global clients. His industrial career was as an electronics design engineer with Martin Marietta Aerospace and in manufacturing management with Rockwell.

His education includes a B.S.E.E. from Vanderbilt University, an MBA from Rollins College and his Ph.D. from University of North Carolina. Dr. Lee is the author of over 75 books, articles, and academic presentations.